PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Contact: Meagen Peden Agnew

(502) 614-3110 or

LOUISVILLE BAR FOUNDATION AWARDS $25,000 GRANT

TO LEGAL AID TO PREVENT HOME FORECLOSURES

LOUISVILLE, KY—The Louisville Bar Foundation recently announced a grant award of $25,000 to the Legal Aid Society’s “Foreclosure Prevention Project,” an initiative designed to help low-income individuals facing foreclosure. The project educates clients on the foreclosure process and the legal defenses that may be available to them.

Assistance from the Louisville Bar Foundation comes at a time when attendance at Legal Aid’s weekly foreclosure clinics has tripled and Legal Aid’s housing attorneys are representing three times their average number of foreclosure clients. In the past year alone, over 250 individuals have requested Legal Aid’s assistance with their foreclosure.

There are two common circumstances that have led homeowners to the current crisis:

  • The interest rate on the mortgage increased at a time when the household’s income remained level or dipped. Clients oftentimes tell of brokers who steered them to an adjustable mortgage rate despite their request for a fixed rate.
  • The numerous pages of the complicated loan documents they signed did not fully reveal the hidden costs and predatory nature of the loan.

The “Foreclosure Prevention Project” offers clients assistance that allows them to negotiate work-out plans with their lender. Oftentimes due to Legal Aid’s advocacy, the homeowner is able to receive a significant reduction in their interest rate, obtain a fixed rate to replace an adjustable rate, significantly reduce the amount of the mortgage balance, or waive fees and penalties.

Legal Aid Society Executive Director, Jeffrey A. Been, said of the grant, “We are grateful to the Louisville Bar Foundation for their assistance with the ‘Foreclosure Prevention Project.’

The immediate benefit that a homeowner receives as a result of this assistance is enormous – the homeowner is able to maintain housing and establish economic stability, but the long-term benefit to the community is similarly great. Neighborhoods suffer the blight of abandoned and boarded-up homes when a home proceeds through the foreclosure process and out-of-state banks hold possessory title to these unoccupied houses that are a magnet for vandalism and other mischief.”

“The Louisville Bar Foundation is pleased to help the Legal Aid Society continue its work through foreclosure clinics in reaching out to families at risk of losing their homes,” said Mark Fenzel, President of the Louisville Bar Foundation and attorney at Middleton Reutlinger. “This grant will help make sure that homeowners needing legal assistance during these tough economic times will get the help they need, which will ultimately benefit our entire community.”

The mission of the Legal Aid Society is to pursue justice for people in poverty. Legal Aid provides free legal services to low-income families and individuals facing serious threats to their physical and economic well-being. Those assisted include the elderly, children, victims of domestic violence, and other vulnerable groups. For more information, visit Legal Aid’s website at

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